


Fifteen

by romanoffrights



Series: Birthdays With The Hargreeves. [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Birthday, Canonical Character Death, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fighting, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Not A Fix-It, Not Beta Read, Other, Teen Angst, We Die Like Men, brief mentions of five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 19:15:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17987030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanoffrights/pseuds/romanoffrights
Summary: The Hargreeves celebrate their fifteenth birthdays. The first without Ben (And hey, Five's not here, either). Knives are thrown.





	Fifteen

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It was around 6 pm, and the sound of knives being thrown against a wall was all Diego could hear. He thinks some of those thumps were footsteps that belonged to Grace as she walked up and down the hallways, but he wasn't sure.

October first. Meaning the Hargreeves birthdays.

Or, the remaining fives birthdays.

Diego hated birthdays before this, and now he hated them even more. Because all birthdays caused was pain.

Before he turned fourteen, Diego would've complained about not wanting to share his birthday with six others.

But now that they didn't have two of the others? It felt wrong to wish for something like that- wrong to celebrate knowing that they weren't here now to do the same. 

Diego threw another knife, this time with much more force and anger. His breathing was labored, but he didn't seem to notice. Anger consumed him. 

Why was he angry? Why? He should be- sad, or mourning, or something like that. And he was just pissed. 

He wishes he could just be sad, like his siblings were.

So he launched another knife and scowled. The sound of a door creaking open interrupted his brooding. His eyes wandered over to whoever had opened the door. Allison. Her eyes were glossy, but Diego didn't say anything about that.

"Will you stop?" Allison asked, and annoyance was laced in her tired voice. Diego stated at her directly in the eye, and threw another knife without looking away from her. "Diego, stop." 

"Fuck off." Diego said with a scoff, and he looked away from her.

Allison frowned deeply, "You know, I heard a rumor-"

Diego launched one of his weapons at her. It didn't hit her, because he would never do something like that. Instead it brushed right past her and landed on the wall behind her. It was enough to catch her offguard.

"Don't try your rumor shit on me." Diego seemed through grit teeth, "I'm not in the mood."

"Asshole." Allison spat once she'd collected herself, venom laced in her words. Diego flipped her off, and she continued to speak, "Look, I get you're angry, Diego, bu-"

"Get out of my fucking room." Diego hissed, turning to look her in the eye. Allison stared right back at him, an emotion in her eyes that Diego couldn't determine.

"Diego, you're not the only o-"

"I said get out!" Diego repeated, his voice raising.

"Can't you get it threw your thick skull that you're not the only one who misses them?!" Allison yelled.

Diego acted on impulse when he launched another knife at her, but she dodged it quickly, "Fine! I'm leaving!" Allison huffed, "You're a dick!" She added, and then she slammed the door shut. The thud of a knife hitting the wooden door was heard, but Allison chose to ignore it.

Allison stared at the wall in front of her and she let out a deep sigh. Yes, she knew this was how Diego coped, she knew that they all coped in different ways. She knew Klaus was probably high off his ass right now, that Luther was probably doing his own personal training, that Vanya was playing some song on her violin. But it was still hard to deal with each of them.

Allison blinked harshly, and she wandered back to her room. The noise coming from Diego's room continued, and this time not just the thumps of his knives, but Allison decided to try her best to ignore it.

Birthdays were going to go back to normal soon, Allison thought as she entered her room. They had to eventually. But today, they all ached with grief. And who could blame them?

Ben had died a terrible death. A death that hurt Allison to think about. And he was so damn young, too. He didn't deserve it. 

Allison knew all Ben had wanted was to impress their father. It was unfair how Reginald had barely acknowledged what happened to Ben, how he'd paid for the statue and never brought it up again.

It was unfair, but it wasn't surprising.

Allison sat on the edge of her bed and she stared up at her ceiling, trying to think straight. She knew Grace would be getting them soon for evening mealtime, but Allison hated the thought of going down there.

She didn't want to look at her siblings, and she sure as hell didn't want to look at Reginald.

Maybe she'd just close her eyes for a bit, and fall into a dream where she had Ben and Five.

She didn't get the chance, because Grace opened the door. 

She looked up at her mother, who had her normal smile on her face.

"It is mealtime, Allison," Grace spoke gently, "Be downstairs in ten minutes."

Allison visibly winced, but she nodded. Grace kept her usual expression and walked out of Allison's room, closing the door behind her.

Allison stood up and flattened her outfit a bit. A frown rested on her lips and she stated at herself in the mirror.

Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were a bit puffy, but she decided it was good enough for now. Besides, it's not like the others would look much better.

It took fifteen minutes for everyone to be seated at the dining table. No one was making eye contact, but Allison could see Diego side eyeing her as he ate. Allison scowled at him, and Diego looked like he was going to snap at any moment.

Maybe it was a dumb move for Allison to scrape her fork against her plate, because she knew full well how much Diego hated that, but she was petty and angry with him. 

Diego shot up from his seat, his chair tumbling backwards, which startled everyone. Vanya dropped her silverware.

"Number two!" Reginald said, raising his voice, "Sit down this instant."

Diego looked directly at Allison as he spoke, "Father," He calmly said, "Would you please tell Allison to stop being a petty little bitch?"

Now it was Allison's turn to stand up abruptly. 

"Diego!" Luther said angirly from his seat,

"Number two! You will not use such vulgar language in my household!" Reginald scolded.

Klaus made brief eye contact with Vanya, who's hands were shaking. He noted how red and puffy her eyes were, but before he could do anything, Allison was speaking.

"Father." The female imitated Diego, staring at said male with challenging eyes, "Would you tell Diego to stop being such a brat and get it through his head that he isn't the only one mourning?"

"Both of you stop!" Reginald shouted, and Allison noted how Klaus covered his hands with his ears as the noise picked up. It didn't stop her or Diego. 

Diego grit his teeth, and he reached for one of the knives on the table. 

"Don't you fucking dare." Luther seethed, standing.

"Number one! You know better than this! Each of you sit down!" Reginald spoke, anger clear in his voice.

"You know, Luther, sometimes I wish it was you who died instead of Ben." Diego fumed. "Everyone at this table knows damn well who's fault it was ans that it was you who deserved it." He said, pointing his knife at the other. 

"Enough!" Reginald yelled, and he stood, "All three of you get to your rooms! Now!" 

Diego had a fire in his eyes as he complied to what his father had said. Allison and Luther did as well, only more hesitantly. Reginald followed behind them.

That left Klaus and Vanya.

Well, and Grace, of course, who was beginning to pick up the plates of those who had left with the same smile as always,

Vanya pushed her plate away, "I'm finished, mom." She muttered. Her voice was rough and scratchy. "May I be excused?"

"Well, would you like some cake?" Grace asked.

"No, I wouldn't like any. Thank you." Vanya responded briefly. Grace's smile was replied by a frown.

"Oh. Alright. You may be excused." Grace said blankly. Vanya nodded, and she stood, her chair scraping against the dining room floor.

She wandered off, probably to her room. Only Klaus remained.

"What about you, Klaus? Would you like some cake?" Grace asked hopefully as she collected Vanya's plate.

Klaus blinked a bit. His eyes wandered over to one of the empty seats that, to Grace, looked empty. He stared at it for a brief ten seconds. 

"Yeah." He replied after those ten seconds, looking back over at Grace, "Yeah. We could go for some cake."


End file.
